


Cover Coveter

by junuve



Series: We Foolish Vessels [6]
Category: Nier Gestalt | Nier, Nier Gestalt | Nier Replicant | Nier (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, dont ya ever just want an ancient magic book to dote on a sad barbarian dad, dont ya just wanna...... wrap dad nier in a blanket..........., well here u go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 10:40:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20928875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junuve/pseuds/junuve
Summary: The memories of the fight against Grimoire Noir and his lord haunt Nier’s dreams, and the pain from the wounds remind him of all he lost that day.Thankfully, Weiss is there to be so utterly ridiculous Nier doesn’t have time to dwell on it... Hooray!(Nier and Weiss are sickeningly sweet. Takes place in the timeskip period. Almost pointless fluff.)





	Cover Coveter

_The magic wrapped him tightly, chasing air from lung and blood from limb. Its texture was rough. Old blood—old blood magic—had him ensnared._

_Strangled, a phantom voice whispered things he wouldn’t understand. All internal writhed away from the words._

_**Weak**. _

_ **Reckless, and thus feckless.** _

_The constriction took away his might… even the ability to hold his… his… _

_Where was his blade? _

…_did he even have a weapon?_

_What had he now?_

_ **Helpless.** _

_ **Born without claws, to bear without blade.** _

_He couldn’t breathe. The tightening hold had his eye, seeping inside._

_Dark silhouettes, frothing with power, were before him. One was greater and one was lesser, but which was which? His vision closed, a thin portal. Awareness was slim. _

_The shadows were chasing away in the gray, carrying light with them. He tried to thrash, but it was useless, just like the voice said._

_If not he, then his friends could be the ones! _

_Where were his friends? He couldn’t see them. He couldn’t see… He tried to cry out but there was not a breath spared. _

_Familiarity raced ahead of despair. Someone was nearby. _

“_Weiss!?”_

_He couldn’t see, but he could feel._

_ **Direst.** _

_ **Languishing in false remedies.** _

_Nier reached forth and pressed his hand to four familiar corners. The curling patterns within he knew by heart; the facing stoic, unyielding to his touch._

_Nier’s chest cracked with pain, flowing through his shoulder._

“_Weiss! We have to—we have to catch—”_

_There was no answer. Was he dead? The book moved not._

_Nier was caught, pawing in the dark. What could he do? What could he change? His teeth grit. _

_He just couldn’t move!_

_The shadows were getting away, the distance growing and their forms fading to static. The light they stole sputtered and wavered._

_ **Hopeless.** _

_ **Onset of madness, incurable.** _

_He raised his other arm. It took everything. But he had to… he couldn’t let them… get away with this._

_A lance, one lance…_

_Weiss, please… if you can hear… if you exist still…_

_One shot into the darkness that engulfed, that separated the shadows from the rest, this was all he asked. A singular chance…_

_Pain ripped like fire through his shoulder to his heart. The target was invisible. _

_ **Impossible.** _

_ **With no end, but the unbearable.** _

_He let go and waited for the snap of Weiss’ pages. He anticipated that glorious rush of blood, of magic, of vengeance…_

_Yet no such thing came._

_He roared._

_Suddenly, the magic constricting him ripped free! Nier gasped, cold air blooming inside his lungs, and finally… brightness entered his eye. _

_White…_

* * *

Weiss yanked the blankets off Nier with a huff. He hovered there, the fabric gathered up between his pages, looking much like a dog with a frisbee in its mouth.

Nier rolled over onto his back and oriented himself, groaning as the wounds on his chest and shoulder still ached. The nightmare rolled from his memory like a wisp off a kettle, and so he laid in a daze, hair matted and cocooning his face.

He glanced over at the motion beside the bed, and beheld the blanket being… _consumed_ by Weiss. Yep. Weiss was devouring his blanket.

Maybe he should just go back to sleep…

The book finished inhaling the covers, and flopped into the bed again. He did it right next to Nier’s head of course, making a loud _smack_.

Nevermind! Nier was awake now.

He tried to relax his muscles, the clenching doing nothing to ease the pain where the black book had skewered him many months ago. It hadn’t been too long since the wounds had fully closed up, and Nier really didn’t want to screw them up again, especially since Weiss had worked so hard on mending the deeper tissues with a meticulously fashioned healing spell.

Besides, Nier would finally be able to do a damned thing. There was only so much ground he could cover without being able to pull his weight in a fight…

Nier propped himself up, and gave his surrounding area a once-over. Yonah’s room. So he’d passed out up here again? He chuckled internally at himself for being so out-of-it. It was, however, a humorless thing. Nier wondered how much the medicine was messing with his head.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t anything compared to what Yonah had to have felt…

Nier heard laughing that wasn’t internal, and was actually full of mirth… For a split second, he thought it was her, but—

He really was funny in the head, wasn’t he?

But no, it was just Weiss. Nier turned to the tome beside him with a pointed look, focusing on figuring out what was so funny. His hair, maybe?

"Knock it off," Nier grumbled, rubbing at his face. "You better not’ve eaten that blanket…"

It wasn’t Yonah’s, thankfully, or else he might’ve gagged Weiss on the spot.

"No! It is mine!" Weiss' laugh turned diabolical. "Your affair with the cover is over. Ye shall never be twain again!"

Nier scratched his head. That sure was flamboyant.

Weiss flopped over onto his front cover, fanning all his pages in a dramatic flourish until he lay closed again, face down in a pillow.

“OK…?” Nier stared dumbfounded, attempting to read between the lines of what was happening. It was too early for this.

He just stared at the back cover of the book a while, losing all train of thought. A chill crawling up his bare back snapped him out of it, though. Apparently he wasn’t wearing a shirt either. Only just realizing this fact was probably something Nier should’ve worried about.

"Weiss?"

"You know I don't answer to that," Weiss was muffled.

Nier closed his eyes, praying for patience. "Ya just _did_."

Weiss said no more and slipped away. The movement was a funny looking lateral float, off the bed and toward the center of the room.

"What the—"

"_Bye_." Weiss kept floating horizontally.

Nier didn’t press further, and instead swung his legs over the edge of the bed, resting there a moment as he watched Weiss do… whatever he was doing.

Weiss floated over to the table and alighted on it, still face down. He tilted upwards until he ‘stood’ on his end, and then walked along the tabletop with a bizarre hopping gait until he came across a utensil. He tilted down slightly to inspect it, and then, taking great offense at its presence, flicked it off the edge with his front cover. Weiss watched the spoon clatter onto the ground.

Nier wrinkled his face. “_…why?_”

Weiss considered the question a moment. “I don’t know, actually.”

“I’m not picking it up,” Nier said as he rose.

“Understandable.”

He came up to the table, staring down at Weiss. "Spit the blanket out."

"Not for an ungrateful oaf.” Somehow, even when physically looking up at Nier, Weiss could look _down_ on him.

"Wait, did you _actually_ eat it?" Nier was worried. He didn’t think Weiss liked fabric, but since he enjoyed rotten meat for a meal, anything was up for debate.

"No, no. It is but imprisoned within the confines of my vast and incredibly undervalued magical realm of holding,” Weiss rattled off.

“Well, bring it back!” Nier demanded, “I need it!”

“I cannot. I shall not!” Weiss rose up to eye-level as he spoke, “there it will stay. _FOREVER!” _Weiss manifested two very small dark hands to emphasize his point.

Nier stared at him, unimpressed.

Weiss carried on anyway. “It is fitting punishment for what you’ve done, anyway.”

"What have _I_ done?!" Nier had had it. “I was _asleep_ until you pulled it off of me!”

"Asleep?! Oh ho ho! Not so. You were busy being an ape!" Weiss said.

"What does THAT mean?!”

Weiss paused. “You… _You forgot?_”

“I guess?!” Nier shrugged, agitated.

“Oh, _well then_,” Weiss relented, floating away subtly.

Nier turned his head, giving Weiss a suspicious side-eye.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Weiss scolded, “you practically mummified yourself in that blanket! And then when I went to… well, get _in there with you_ and get warm, you slapped me in the face!” Weiss didn’t sound as offended as he should have. He sounded… amused?

Nier scoured his memory. There were plenty of times he wanted to slap Weiss, but he never followed through... right? “I-I think I would remember _that_.”

“That’s not all. You began to… well, _fight_ the blanket,” Weiss couldn’t keep a straight face. “You started calling my name, too, and tugging on my pages...” He trailed off, and chuckled wistfully.

Nier scowled, trying to scrape up a memory or two. The few flickering recollections he could sense weren’t pleasant ones. “I was probably having a nightmare, Weiss…”

The book sighed, and then in a more level voice said, “well, if we don’t laugh about it, it’d get a bit too heavy, wouldn’t you agree?”

Nier considered this, and nodded. “Yeah… I guess getting in a fight with a blanket’s pretty… funny.”

He still couldn’t believe Weiss would laugh at him. Why the hell was he acting so… goofy? He usually had a litany of complaints before Nier even got to breakfast. Did Nier do something even more embarrassing? Oh no, what if he’d _said something_…

He didn’t want to think about what THAT could be, so he instead asked Weiss a question, “so you pulled the blanket off of me… because… I slapped you?”

“You were being spectacularly unpleasant. Hogging covers, jostling me, yelling,” Weiss explained, “I was obligated to relieve you of the cover that ensnared you so. You were going to lose the fight against it.”

“Right. Why did you _eat it_, though?” Nier was genuinely curious how that decision was made.

“Well, putting it back on you seemed like a bad idea! And I didn’t want to take it anywhere, or set it on the ground, so…”

“…so you ate it,” Nier finished. “That’s like something _I_ would do.”

“Maybe you’re rubbing off on me,” Weiss mentioned absently.

Nier was horrified at the thought, but pushed it away. He was getting awfully cold.

“Can I… have it back?”

Weiss didn’t answer right away, only slowly turning to Nier.

“I’m not sure. _Can you?_”

“Oh, for the love of-”

"If you’re going to share a bed with someone try to not envelope yourself in all available covers, _hmmmm_?" Weiss teased.

Nier was about fed up. "You’re a book. You already have a cover."

Weiss jerked back. “You SHAN’T be getting your cover back at all!"

“Wait, what?!” How come that made Weiss upset?!

"You don’t need the blanket. You’re wearing shorts, which is cover enough by your logic!" Weiss said.

"…it was… it was a joke,” Nier deadpanned.

He just really wasn’t feeling up to this right now…

Weiss stopped smiling, his mirth drying up. The Grimoire gave him a look over, orbiting his figure. Nier shied away from the inspection, crossing his arms.

Finally, Weiss drew before Nier’s face again, and explained something more, “you were trying to summon magic out of me… in your sleep.” He let out a chuckle, but it wasn’t so carefree, “good thing I was actually awake. You could’ve brought the whole room down.”

“Really…?” Nier was shocked. “I can _do that_?”

His attention flit around their surroundings. If he tore up the upstairs… if he tore up Yonah’s—

His throat tightened, and he stared intently at the ground.

“Crap,” was his enlightening remark.

“Don’t worry about it.” Weiss adjusted the patch over his eye with a dark hand, brushing his hair back before the hand vanished. “It’s not like you could help it…”

Nier met the book’s eyes. “I scared you, didn’t I?”

“Bah! None can instill fear in the great Grimoire W-” Nier fixed Weiss with such a stare that he couldn’t go on. The man just saw through him.

The book cleared his ‘throat’.

“…you were very, _very_ upset,” he admitted, angling away, his movements small. “I’m just glad I was… awake, at that moment, and not in the thrall of whatever was haunting you. If we were to both fall into such a state of despair, it would be… unfortunate, to say the least.”

Nier scowled at the word _haunt_ in this context. _Despair_ about hit it on the head though…

“I was just trying to be… lively… when you woke up,” Weiss admitted, his words stifled, “or, well, something... A change of pace, perhaps.”

Nier turned, his scowl softening to something kind. “Thanks, Weiss.” He nudged the book.

“…you’re kinda weird though,” Nier added dryly.

Weiss huffed at him. “You’re welcome.”

“But, uh,” Nier folded his arms, asking, “is there anything we can do to prevent something like that from happening?”

“It shan’t happen,” Weiss assured, “because I will be _awake_.”

That wasn’t the response Nier had wanted. “Wow. That’s a great plan.”

“My specialty.”

“What if you fall asleep on accident?”

“I just won’t! Not if you are already in repose,” Weiss spoke with such confidence.

“What if you’re already asleep and then I fall asleep?”

“Wake me up!”

“What if I forget?”

“Then… I guess we die?” Weiss moved, as if to shrug.

Nier pinched the bridge of his nose, and went back to sit on the bed. Sometimes he wondered what it was like to listen in on the two of them. It would either be sad or funny. Maybe both.

The bigger issues with this ‘plan’ aside, Nier wanted Weiss to feel at peace around him, enough to fall asleep. He didn’t… wait, why did he care about that…?

He leaned back against the headboard, abating a cramp in his shoulder. Thinking hurt, or maybe he just hurt in general. He didn’t know anymore…

“This plan doesn’t sound fair, Weiss,” Nier pointed out, “I kinda… _bug_ you all the time when I’m awake.”

Weiss drew beside the bed, and took on a smug tilt. “I know you need me.”

“That’s not what I—”

“Moreover, sleeping is boring!” Weiss carried along, “I get so much done when you’re dead to the world. You could scarcely conceive how productive I am!”

Nier exhaled, shutting his eye. That wasn’t totally true. He knew for fact that Weiss spent at least some of that time fretting over him when he slept, especially back when his wounds were fresh. The book really thought he was sneaky, but Nier caught sight of him frequently, feeling his subtle presence looming over the bed. Nier hoped this sense was due to growing keen from traversing in the wilds; not the voodoo nonsense that bound the two (it was both, probably).

Through all Nier’s ragged hair, the book never saw that his good eye was barely cracked open. As soon as Nier moved his body, as if to stir, though, Weiss would disappear and pretend to be doing something else, like reading.

The routine was… endearing, so Nier didn’t say anything. It was a more pleasant way to start the days when compared to waking up completely alone in the house.

…

Anyway, Nier’s favorite thing was when Weiss _did_ manage to sneak in. Nier would wake up with the book laid across his stomach, pages down, open to some innocuous section like fishing records.

Nier would use his good arm and run his fingers down the spine, marveling still at the consistency of living leather and the humming metal decorations. It was probably weird to pet an ancient talking book, but… it was just so… tranquil.

For precious seconds, the bleakness of it all wasn’t bearing down on him. Not him alone, anyway.

The idea that they’d be always a little worried to rest like that, especially because of him… It didn’t make Nier happy.

“I don’t know what’s upsetting you now, but you’d better stop it…” Weiss grumped at him, perceiving the shift in his mood.

“Hm?” Nier came back from his absent dozing. He heard pages fluttering. “What do you mea—”

He snapped awake at the murmurs of magic flowing alongside him, yet calmed as he realized from whence it came. The murmuring was echos of Weiss’ own voice. He was working some sort of spell, slow and lilting, words falling from his pages and circulating on currents unseen. Threads of red and black converged about Nier’s body, cascading down and beginning to take a shape.

“You’re cold,” Weiss said as his magic brushed Nier, “why didn’t you say something?!”

Nier opened his mouth, a little annoyed, but decided to not press it. Instead he watched Weiss as he weaved the old cloth back into reality. Strands of words so minuscule they may as well have been fibers interlaced, and soon, they converged into a code most tangible. The cover settled as it materialized, resting against his figure. It was lighter now, and a bit warm too.

“Thanks…” Nier felt the blanket move as it were being wrapped around him, though no visible hands were upon it. “What did you do…? It feels better.”

“It involves a lot of big words and natural processes of which you are ignorant.” Weiss closed himself as the last of the letters left his pages. “So, in simple terms: magic.”

“Neat.” Nier sniffed the blanket. “Did you wash it?”

“A Grimoire is a being of many wondrous talents,” Weiss answered, “I just so happen to naturally purify whatever passes through me.”

“So, you’re kinda like a wash tub, huh?” Nier poked at him.

“I should be offended!” Weiss feigned outrage.

Nier cracked a grin. “I’m proud. You said you’d never give it back._ ‘Forever!’_” He mimicked Weiss’ melodramatic pose from before.

“I only gave it back so I don’t have to see you sitting there half-naked, looking pathetic,” Weiss complained.

Nier shrugged the cover slightly that Weiss had wrapped around him so snugly. “This makes me look less pathetic?”

Weiss appraised him, hovering close to his face. "You look HORRENDOUS, actually. Worse than usual."

Nier chuckled at that, comforted by the sharpness. “Come on. I worked hard to get this ugly.”

"Oh, shut up,” Weiss chided, “you’re not ugly."

“Hold on,” Nier sounded truly concerned, “did you just _compliment_ me?”

Weiss bumped into him affectionately, giving a wry reply, "don’t get used to it."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this, because I sure did. Tell me what you think, if you'd like, or just yell about these two at me. I'm in deep here, guys.


End file.
